Evaluation of a community-based health promotion program for the elderly: lessons from Seniors CAN

To evaluate the effects of a community-based educational program designed to promote health by enhancing older adults' mastery while decreasing loneliness and stress.

Between 1999 and 2004, 339 older adults who participated in Seniors CAN completed standardized assessments of mastery, loneliness, and stress, prior to and upon completion of the 4-month intervention. Participants'scores were compared using paired t-tests to measure changes from preintervention to postintervention. Change scores were then subjected to three-way ANOVA to assess the relative effectiveness based upon participants' sociodemographic characteristics.

Participants demonstrated significant improvements from preintervention to postintervention for mastery, loneliness, and stress. Additional analysis revealed that improvement in loneliness was significantly greater among low-income ethnic minorities and minorities with a high level of formal education, p < .05.

The 16-week intervention resulted in significant improvements in constructs associated with better health and a higher quality of life for independent-living older adults. These findings suggest that a community-based educational intervention can be an effective strategy to reduce risk and promote the health and independence of older adults.